Combustion chamber for fluid fuel



Jan. 23,, 1951 R. E. YATES EIAL COMBUSTION CHAMBER FOR FLUID FUEL Filed July 22., 1948 a A 9 a Z 13 Z /c 5 L z f 5 v 0 m T 7+ w V 9 1 z Walla I v ja s/0351a?" fay/0.62023 Mum,

/waaw W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBUSTION CHAMBER FOR FLUID FUEL Robert E. Yates, Joseph M. Engel, and William W. Riesche, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Drying Systems, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 22, 1948, Serial No. 40,194

6 Claims.

This invention relates to gas burners and has particular reference to a gas burner suitable for operation in a rapidly moving current of air.

The usual burner for gas1ous fuel is ordinarily plying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or other principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without not subjected to strong currents of air, and in departing from the present invention and the the usual case the air supply moving past the purview of the appended claims. burner moves at the minimum speed consistent In the drawings: with complete combustion of the fuel. In in- Fig. 1 is a sectional view throu h a domest c stances where the burner must operate in a fast clothes drier showing the burner according to moving current of air, in order to heat the air as e present invention partially in Vertical for drying operations or the like, it is essential on, and par ial y in a o that the burner function properly regardless of 2 is a t e se s ct o through t e the intensity of the current of air in which the u e l g n he direction of the arrows burner is positioned. As an adjunct to such oper- 2-4 of Fig. 1 and showing the di p f he ation it is essential that the burner be capable l5 u e n a forced a passageway 0f t e C thes of being lighted without the necessity of first d slowing the air current past the burner, and like- Figi 3 is an enlarged orizo al sec on loo wise if the burner should be extinguished for any in the d ectio of the arrows 3-3 of Fig. 1; reason, that it be able to be 'rellghted without Fi 4 is a nd V looking in the rect on of slowing the current of air. the arrows of F and With the foregoing considerations in mind it is Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the burner a principal object of this invention to make it on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3 and lookin in the direcpossible to operate a gas burner safely and eifition of e arrowsciently in a rapidly moving current of air. A re- Referring now to the drawin t e burner aelated object is to enable such a burner to be cording to th Present invention is nd cated at lighted itho t first decreasing th speed of t ID and-is incorporated in a domestic clothes drier air mo in past th b H. The details of construction of such a clothes A further object is to enable the burner to be drier are shown in 0111 application Serial 0. operated in a rapidly moving stream of air, the 735,433, filed November 1947- fi c it t0 say. burner presenting throttling orifices to the air O the burner 0 is ou ted n a duct or stream to decrease the speed of the air within passageway 3 f m d by sp d e walls l4 and the burner adjacent the point of discharge of the drum housing and a bottom panel a gaseous fuel into the burner, so that the fuel- Shown in As shown y the arrows d ca air mixture formed may be readily ignited, the mg a current of in the n r 0 is SO flame so formed being then supplied with air positioned as to have the curre t Of a r fl w through a plurality of openings in the burner p y about the burner, and as will app a later, tube for complete combustion, such air being supthe a for COIhplete Combustion is pp to n t t burner t b by an air t l S1eeve the burner from such a current of air. The burner surrounding th perforated burner tube, is preferably mounted and asszmbled on a mount- Still another object is to enable such a burner plate l9 which also covers an insp ct 9 to scoop the air or reverse the direction of fiow Opening As w the ur r 0 and its of the air immtdiately exteriorly of the air conmounting pl '9 are held in position to the side trol sleeve and into a cylindrical chamber formed Wall '6 y means o mounting screws by the air control sleeve and the perforated The burner unit In includes an elongated air burner tube, the air so supplied to the cylindrical control sleeve 23 which is supported on a bracket chamber entering the perforated burner tube and 24 secured to the mounting plate 25, a screw enabling complete combustion of the fuel to take 21 and mounting bolts 28 completing such supplace in the burner tube. port. The control sleeve 23 has a rear wall 29 Other and further objects of the present insecured thereto, as bywelding, and the rear wall vention will be apparent from the following de- 29 has welded thereto an elongated burner tube scription and claims and are'illustrated in the 3| having perforations 32 uniformly spaced accompanying drawing which, by way of illustrathroughout its length. As shown, the air control tion shows preferred embodiment, and the prinsleeve 23 and the burner tube 3| are in coaxial ciple thereof and what we now consider to be the relationship so as to define a cylindrical air pasbest mode in which we have contemplated ap- .sage' 33. The air control sleeve 23 and the burner tube 3| are maintained in such coaxial relationship at their forward ends by means of radially extending struts 25 which are welded to the air control sleeve 23 and bear against the perforated burner tube 3 thus providing a substantially unrestricted entrance through which air may enter the cylindrical air passage 33 at the forward end thereof.

The rear wall 29 has a threaded axial opening 34 therein for a gas supply fitting 36 having an elongated threaded nipple 31 thereon which is threaded into the opening 34. The nipple 31 has an elongated passage 38 therein and the discharge end of the nipple 31 is provided with a metering opening 39 which cooperates with an adjustable needle valve 4| to meter the gas supplied to the fitting 36 by a pipe 42 extending through an opening 43 in the plate I9.

The gas discharged into the burner tube 3| is supplied with air which is adapted to sweep past the discharge end of the nipple 31 and to intimately mix with the gas prior to being ignited, the ignited mixture being thereafter supplied with air entering the perforations 32 to achieve com-' plete combustion of the fuel. It is necessary for the gas so supplied to the burner tube to be supplied with adequate air for ignition, but it is also necessary that such air not have too great a velocity which would result in making the fuel-air mixture too lean for ignition and for proper flame propagation. To this end the rear wall 29 is provided with a plurality of metering air inlet oriflees 44 which are exposed to the direct impact of the air current in which the burner I is p0- sitioned. These metering orifices 44 are spaced circumferentially around the nipple 31 to provide uniform distribution and mixture of the air with fuel supplied at the discharge end of the nipple 31.

The fuel-air mixture so formed is then ignited by a spark plug 46 which is threaded into the perforated burner tube 3| and protrudes through openings 41 and 48 formed respectively in the air control sleeve 23 and the mounting plate IS. The spark plug 46 is provided with the conventional electrodes 49 which are so positioned as to ignite the fuel-air mixture just described. The spark plug 46 has a terminal which is connected to a source at high potential, not shown. It will be understood, of course, that the spark plug 46 is energized only when lighting the burner l0, and that after ignition of the fuel-air mixture it is deenergized until the burner I0 is relighted.

The ignited mixture is supplied with air through the perforations 32 so that the fuel is entirely burned. Since the burner I0 is required to operate in a rapidly moving current of air, the air supplied thereto should not disturb the burner flame and yet should be supplied as to obtain maximum heat from the fuel. In order to supply air at the proper velocity to the burner l0 and in order to supply air at the perforation at a positive pressure, and not that merely induced by the progress of the flame through the burner tube 3|, the forward end of the burner tube 3| has fastened thereto, as by welding, an annular cup 52 of a larger diameer than the air control sleeve 23. As shown in Fig. 3, the annular cup 52 is of suitable cross-section as to be spaced from the end of the air control sleeve 23 to provide a passageway 53 which is continuous with the cylindrical passage 33.

It will be apparent that the air flowing exteriorly of the air control sleeve 23 and adjacent thereto will be reversed in its direction to enter til the cylindrical passage 33 and will then pass through the orifices 32 into the burner tube 3| to complete the combustion of the fuel.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the present invention enables a gas burner to be utilized in a rapidly moving stream of air such as the air that is forced through a clothes drier or the like, and this is accomplished by a structure which is extremely simple in character.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a burner for operation in a rapidly moving current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tube having spaced inlet perforations distributed therein throughout substantially its entire length, an air control sleeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear wall supporting one end of said burner tube and said air control sleeve in such spaced relationship, an inlet fitting mounted in said rear wall and having a discharge end opening through said wall for discharging fuel longitudinally and in a forward direction into said burner tube, a plurality of throttling orifices in said wall for supplying air at reduced velocity adjacent aid discharge opening for mixing with said fuel, and means for maintaining the forward end of said tube and said sleeve in coaxial relationship to provide a substantially unrestricted passage for air entering said cylindrical air passage whereby air from such a moving current of air ma pass in a rearward direction into said passage for distribution through said spaced inlet perforations for complete supply of air to the ignited mixture.

2. in a ourner for operation in a rapidly moving current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tuoe having spaced inlet perforations distributed therein throughout substantially its entire length, an air control sleeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear wa.l supporting one end of said burner tube and said air control sleeve in such spaced relationship, an in.et fitting mounted in said rear wall and having a discharge end opening through said wall for discharging fuel longitudinally into said burner tube, a plurality of throttling orifices in said wall exposed to direct impact of air for providing air at reduced velocity sweeping past said discharge opening in a forward direction within said burner tube for mixing with said fuel, ignition means extending into said burner tube for igniting the fuel-air mixture, and means for maintaining the forward end of said tube and said sleeve in coaxial relationship to provide a substantially unrestricted passage for air entering said cylindrical air passage whereby air from such a moving current of air may pass in a rearward direction into said passage for distribution through said spaced inlet perforations for compl te supply of air to the ignited mixture.

3. In a burner for operation in a rapidly moving current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tube having spaced in et perforations distribut d therein throughout substantially its entire length, an air control s eeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear wall s pporting one end of said burner tube and said air control sleeve in such spaced relationship, an inlet fitting mounted in said rear.

wall and having a discharge end opening through said wall for discharging fuel longitudinally into said burner tube, a plurality of throttling orifices in said wall for supplying air moving in a forward direction at reduced velocity within said burner tube and adjacent said discharge opening for mixing with said fuel, ignition means extending into said burner tube for igniting the fuel-air mixture, and means at the other' end of said burner tube for reversing the direction of flow of air moving exteriorly of said air control sleeve whereby air from such a moving current of air may be directed in a rearward direction into said spaced inlet perforations for complete supply of air to the ignited mixture.

4. In a burner for operation in a rapidly moving current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tube having spaced inlet perforations distributed therein throughout substantially its entire length, an air control sleeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear wall supporting one end of said burner tube and said air control sleeve in such spaced relationship, an inlet fitting mounted in said rear wall and having a discharge end opening through said rear wall for discharging fuel longitudinally and in a forward direction into said burner tube, a plurality of throttling orifices in said wall for supplying air moving in a forward direction at reduced velocity within said burner tube and adl jacent said discharge opening for mixing with plete supply of air to the ignited mixture.

5. In a burner for operation in a rapidly movair moving in a forward direction at reduced velocity within said burner tube for sweeping past said discharge opening and for mixing with said fuel, ignition means extending into said burner tube for igniting the fuel-air mixture, means for holding the forward end of said tube and said sleeve in such coaxial relationship and to provide an unrestricted passage for air entering said cylindrical air passage, and means at said forward end of said burner tube for reversing the direction of flow of air flowing exteriorly of said air control sleeve whereby air from such a moving current of air may pass in a rearward direction into said passage for distribution through said spaced inlet perforations for complete supply of air to the ignited mixture.

6. In a burner for operation in a rapidly moving current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tube having spaced inlet perforations distributed therein throughout substantially its entire length, an air control sleeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear ing current of air to heat such air, an elongated burner tube having spaced inlet perforations distributed therein throughout-substantially its entire length, an air control sleeve surrounding said burner tube in spaced relationship so as to define a cylindrical air passage therebetween, a rear wall supporting one end of said burner tube and said air control sleeve in such spaced relationship, an inlet fitting mounted in said rear wall and having a discharge end opening through said wall for discharging fuel longitudinally into said burner tube, a plurality of throttling orifices in said wall exposed to direct impact of air for providing air moving in a forward direction at reduced velocity within said burner tube for sweeping past said discharge opening and mixing with said fuel, and a plurality of radially extending members for maintaining the forward end of said tube and said sleeve in coaxial relationship, and to provide substantially unrestricted passage for air entering said cylindrical air passage, and an annular shaped cup mounted on the forward end of said elongated burner tube and projecting beyond the said sleeve in a radial sense for reversing the direction of flow of air moving exteriorly of said air control sleeve whereby air from such a moving current of air may pass in a rearward direction into said passage for distribution through said spaced inlet perforations and for complete supply of air to the ignited mixture.

ROBERT E. YATES.

JOSEPH M. ENGEL. v WILLIAM W. RIESCHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,072,731 Crosby Mar. 2, 1937 2,396,9fi8 Phillips Mar. 19, 1946 2,452,779 McCollum Nov. 2. 1948 

